The study reveals that the global industrial refrigeration systems market is likely to grow from $25.7 billion in 2016, to reach 1.5 folds between 2016 and 2023. The increasing demand for cold chain has been necessitating the need for industrial refrigeration globally.

Insights on market segment

Based on our analysis, evaporator unit has been the largest industrial refrigeration systems market globally, accounting for 52.1% of the revenues in 2016. The market for industrial racks is expected to witness fastest growth during the forecast period, compared to other types of industrial refrigeration system. Screw open compressors has been the major technology in IR compressor market, whereas brazed plate continues to be the key technology in the IR heat exchangers market. Industrial racks have been generating higher revenue in the IR industrial racks market. Food & beverage was the largest application for industrial refrigeration systems, however, the market in chemicals & pharmaceuticals is likely to be the fastest growing application area during the forecast period.

Food & beverage to contribute largest revenue to the global market by 2023

In the food & beverage industry, industrial refrigeration is required in processing, storing and delivering of meat & poultry, production and storage of milk products, seafood cooling, and fermentation, and germination of the beverages. As meat and poultry production continue to increase, to meet the growing global demand, refrigeration and temperature control are vital aspects throughout the entire food and beverage delivery process. The dairy being one of the more intricate and diverse sector, it requires refrigeration in the production and storage of wide range of products including milk, cheese and butter. Apart from this, seafood and major fishing ports completely rely on industrial refrigeration to ship their product across globe, without any damage of product loss.

The key drivers for the global industrial refrigeration systems market include increasing adoption of natural refrigerant and improvement in energy efficiency, growing food processing industry in the developing countries and surge in global cold chain capacity.

According to the Cold Chain Alliance, the cold chain market is expected to witness high growth above 12.1% during the next five years. The global refrigerated ware house capacity has increased by 20% in 2014, as compared to the total refrigerated warehouse capacity in 2012. According to the international trade association (ITA), the total refrigerated warehouse capacity increased to reach 552 million cubic meters in 2014, as compared to 92 million cubic meters in 2012. Unexpectedly, India (131 million cubic meters) surpassed the cold chain capacity of the U.S. (115 million cubic meters) in 2014, and became the largest cold chain market by capacity. China (76 million cubic meters) was the third largest cold chain market by capacity, in 2014. The cold chain logistics expenditure across various regions has also been increasing.

Asia-Pacific will remain the largest market throughout the forecast period

Asia-Pacific is expected to account for over 50% of the global industrial refrigeration systems market by 2023. The market is also expected to witness highest growth in this region, during the forecast period. The U.S. stands as the largest market globally, whereas the market in India has been growing at the highest pace.

The phase out of ‘F’ gases, as refrigerant for industrial refrigeration, especially in the developing countries has been leading to the replacement of existing industrial refrigeration setup, with ammonia based refrigeration system. This in consequently driving the growth of the global industrial refrigeration systems market. The growing food processing industries in the developing countries is another major driver in the industrial refrigeration systems market.

Moderate degree of competition

The global industrial refrigeration systems market is moderately competitive. The presence of large number of small regional manufacturers of industrial refrigeration systems, who offer customized commercial refrigeration equipment, leads to high intensity of rivalry. However, owing to the low exit barrier for the existing players, the intensity of rivalry is low. Some of the major players in the global industrial refrigeration systems market include Johnson Controls GEA Group, Industrial Frigo, Emerson Electric, Bitzer, Danfoss, United Technologies Corporation, Star Refrigeration, Hussmann Corporation, and Dover Corporation.